10.20.05
Lindsay Crouch
(Phone: 757/864-3189, 757/870-6912, mobile)
RELEASE: 05-067
MISSE TEAM GATHERS FOR LONG-AWAITED RETURN OF MATERIALS
After spending almost four years in space, suitcases full of valuable
experiments were returned to the anxious researchers awaiting the
arrival. On Oct. 3, two Materials International Space Station
Experiment (MISSE) passive experiment containers were opened for the
first time since arriving back on Earth from their prolonged stay in
space.
The project's principal investigators and technicians opened the two
containers in a clean room at NASA's Langley Research Center,
Hampton, Va., and spent five days inspecting the material samples and
the containers before sending each experiment to its original home
for more investigation.
Although the 35 investigators who traveled to NASA Langley each had
different research interests with his or her samples, overall
excitement was felt throughout the week by the entire team.
Miria Finckenor, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, came to retrieve
a variety of experiments, including polymers, thermal control
coatings and nano-composites.
"I'm very happy with what I've seen so far," said Finckenor. "For
NASA's new exploration project, we'll need to use proven technology.
We can take what we've learned from MISSE to show how well these
materials really did in space. We're going to get a lot of good
science from this."
Boeing's Gary Pippin would agree. His main goal was to test products
including radiation shielding, specialty composites, polymers and
environmental monitors.
"The biggest single thing we've seen so far is the background
cleanliness of the hardware," said Pippin. "We were pleasantly
surprised to see that it's the cleanest experiment to come down from
space. A lot of samples reacted and were degraded."
The only way to determine how different materials will perform in
space is to test them in that environment. Laboratories can simulate
just one or two space environmental factors at a time. The research
from MISSE will provide the insight needed to develop materials for
future spacecraft and will also help researchers make materials and
coatings that will last longer on Earth. NASA Langley's main
experiments were materials developed to function in space for
prolonged missions.
"I am excited and satisfied with another great NASA team
accomplishment. Last week left me feeling charged with excitement to
get on with the job of analyzing the results," said NASA Langley's
Bill Kinard, MISSE principal investigator.
Another researcher traveled to NASA Langley for the grand opening -
Donald Roxby of Siemens, Huntsville, Ala. He was looking at an
experiment different from the others; instead of polymers and
coatings, Roxby came to see how markings designed to label parts
endured their stay in the harsh space environment.
"Most marking processes have been used for decades and are designed
for ground use," said Roxby. "Those processes worked fine when
satellites were burned on re-entry. But, now that satellites are
recovered, we need the markings to stay."
MISSEs 1 and 2 brought back six different additive marking process
experiments, while MISSEs 3 and 4 will carry three more. The research
will enable all airplane and spacecraft parts to be marked with vital
information.
"On orbit, astronauts seeing a damaged tile won't need to count tiles
from a certain point for reference," said Roxby. "With this
technology, they'll be able to scan the tile and send the information
directly to researchers on Earth to communicate the problem."
The MISSE Project is funded jointly by NASA and the Department of
Defense (DoD) Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The NASA Langley
Research Center manages the project. Experiments were provided by
NASA field centers, DoD laboratories and industry and university
partners.
A special session of papers presenting the results of the MISSE 1 and
2 experiments is planned for the DoD- and AFRL- hosted National Space
and Missiles Materials Symposium, which will be held in June 2006 in
Orlando, Fla. This session will provide an opportunity for the MISSE
principle investigators to share their results with the developers of
future spacecraft.
For more information on the MISSE project, visit:
http://misse1.larc.nasa.gov/
For more information on research at NASA, visit:
www.nasa.gov
Video from the MISSE 'grand opening' and first week of initial
examinations will run on NASA TV. NASA TV is carried on the Web and
on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72
degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical
polarization. It's available in Alaska and Hawaii on AMC-7, at 137
degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal
polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast compliant Integrated Receiver
Decoder is required for reception. For NASA TV information and
schedules on the Web, visit:
www.nasa.gov/ntv
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